RI to field 4 cyclists at Asian meet
RI to field 4 cyclists at Asian meet
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will rely on four ace cyclists now in
training in Australia for the Asian Cycling Championship in
Manila.
Sofian Ruzian of the Indonesian Cycling Association said
yesterday the four have been undergoing a rigorous training
program in Adelaide since Feb. 14.
Part of their training included taking part in the Australian
national cycling championship in Brisbane from Mar. 17-25, in
which they finished fifth, Ruzian said.
The four riders are Herry Janto Setiawan, Andry Sudrajat,
Nurrochman and national leading female cyclist Nurhayati. They
are the most prepared Indonesian cyclists for the Manila
championship slated from Apr. 20 to May 3. Ruzian, however, says
he would not burden the cyclists with any expectations.
"We will send them there just to see how they perform among
the best Asian cyclists," Ruzian said.
Of the four, Nurhayati has made the most outstanding
improvement. Nurhayati, a specialist in the 3,000m individual
time trial, has managed to record her best time of 4 minutes and
.0675 seconds during her stint in Australia. Previously her best
time for the same event was 4min 9sec at the 1993 National Games
here, Ruzian said.
Given that the other Southeast Asian countries will also take
part in the Manila championship, the meet will be useful to
measure up the Indonesian team against its Southeast Asian
opponents.
"Thus, we will know the strength of our would-be rivals prior
to the upcoming Southeast Asian Games," Ruzian said.
He believes that in the Dec. 9-17 Games in Chiang Mai,
Thailand, which will feature 11 cycling events, Indonesia will
excel in the men's 200m, 1,000m, 100km, sprints, the women's
3,000m, 25km and the 4,000m team pursuit, at which Indonesian
cyclists have so far shown promising performances.
In the men's 1000m, for example, Herry Janto finished third in
the Asian Cycling Championship in Ipoh, Malaysia, two years ago.
Indonesia will miss Kalimanto, the gold medalist in the men's
200m at the 1991 Manila SEA Games. He was not included in the
present SEA Games-bound team because he has married and refused
to join any long intensive training stint. (arf)